Portrait of Osan and Mohei
- Date:
- 1941
- Medium:
- Woodblock print
- Format:
- Oban
- Publisher:
- Watanabe Shozaburo
- Source:
- Japanese Art Open Database
$1,500–$10,000. Common prints: $1,500–$3,000. Key value factors: Settai's literary elegance and refined technique have a niche but devoted following among collectors of Japanese aestheticism.
Osan and Mohei, the ill-fated lovers from Ihara Saikaku's 1686 novel "Five Women Who Loved Love," appear together in this 1941 oban woodblock print. Their story of forbidden passion between a merchant's wife and his apprentice ends in tragedy, a narrative that appealed to Settai's literary sensibility and his talent for conveying emotional complexity through figure composition. The paired portrait format allows Settai to explore the relationship between the two figures through proximity, gaze, and gesture. As a lifelong illustrator of Japanese literature, Settai brought an interpretive depth to literary subjects that went beyond mere depiction, using visual means to suggest the psychological tension and social constraint that drive Saikaku's narrative.
Curated cross-cuts that include this print.
Portrait of Osan and Mohei was created by Komura Settai (小村雪岱) in 1941.
Portrait of Osan and Mohei was published by Watanabe Shozaburo (1941).
Portrait of Osan and Mohei depicts portraits.
